Where's the lifeboat? - why corporate ventures fail 2

Okay you have been following the fast-track in a big company. Your reviews put you as a future big-hitter and now someone has identified you as a key element of a new internal startup/venture. So what's the problem?

Well there are a few actually. The sort of person who has worked hard to forge a career in a company may not:

• be suited to join a very entrepreneurial internal venture;
• want to leave their career path to move to an inherently risky venture.

Suited? Yeah seriously. Managerial ability may not cut it in a venture with autonomy to break rules and move faster than previously possible. There are operational roles which might match those find in the bigger company and be well filled but the needs of the venture and the team within it may just not suit people from the umbrella company.

Want to leave? Well, if the rewards aren't set up correctly to balance the risk then again the chances of the internal candidates jumping to the new ship is very limited.

One large company had a scheme where the CEO of a new internal venture could, if the first three years went right, and then they gambled on the fourth year results, earn a £1 million. That's not bad money but the odds of it occurring were not great and what would someone succeeding in a normal startup receive if it went well? See - it's just not that attractive as it undervalues the internal people.

© Copyright 2005 Richard A D Jones 2005